10-14-2005, 01:29 PM
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#16 | Heaven isn't too far away
Joined: Dec 2004 Location: The First State Posts: 6,730
| too.much.theory.making.head.hurt
Ok, all kidding aside...all that theory is a wonderful thing as it helps to guide us on what to play (although there are no "rules" to creating music..flame away) but once you've learned all that head knowledge you need to learn how to practically apply it to your instrument and, ultimately, to the song.
How's that done?
Through a complex series of events occuring in sometimes random and sometimes simultaneous order combining the actions of listening, responding, evoking, leading, complimenting, and communicating. It's more commonly known as "playing to the song" (or playing for the song).
We in the 21st century are very fortunate as we have decades of recorded and live history of guitarists who've come before us to show us the way. If you expand out a bit, we can also reference the many centuries of music history and all of the many instruments to draw from and use as instruction.
For me, like many others, it came from hearing others play and learning what they did, copying it and eventually learning to fly solo (no pun intended).
So, step 1, imho (and maybe the most important step), of learning to play great solos is listening. Then, combining all that theory that you've been practicing...you HAVE been practicing, haven't you?...with the other actions I mentioned above (still including listening) is how you create your very own stellar guitar solos.
And a little personal advice; I try to sing with the guitar. Maybe give that a shot yourself. |
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10-17-2005, 03:16 PM
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#17 | Dogbert's back!
Joined: Jul 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,313
| Thanx guys, I'm glad you like this
Here's one more! CHORDS
To understand, you must have read the Major Scale post, and it wouldn't hurt to have read the interval post.
Ok, how do chords fit in a soloing thread? Well, think of chords as a framework for a house. The house can be as large, complex and architecturally elegant as anything, but beneath it all, there is an infrastructure. Think of a song that way. There needs to be some kind of underlying harmony in a song to make it work well, and chords help with that part of a song. What this lesson means to teach is to how to figure out the chords in a given key. It's actually quite easy.
In the major scale lesson, you learned about the eight steps in a key. Now I'm going to show you how to figure out chords using that same principle.
Let's look at the C Major scale and each note's respective step.
1- 2-3- 4-5- 6-7- 8
C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
Now, here's a pattern I want you to memorize.
M-m-m-M-M-m-D-M
M=Major
m=Minor
D=Diminished
Let me show you that again, but in accordance with the steps in the Major key.
1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6-7- 8
M-m-m-M-M-m-D-M
See? There's a chord for each particular step in the Major Scale.
Confused? Let's show it to you this way.
1 2 3 4 -5 6 7 8
C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bº-C (just so you know, that degree sign by the B usually stands for "diminished")
See how that work?
Can you guess on what the chord pattern for the key of D would be?
D-Em-F#-G-A-Bm-C#º-D
What about G?
G-Am-Bm-C-D-Em-F#º-G
Key of A?
A-Bm-C#m-D-E-F#m-G#º-A
Understanding how this is working? Good. |
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10-17-2005, 06:11 PM
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#18 | Registered User
Joined: Aug 2001 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 6,317
| Missing element. A crucial and elemental piece to this puzzle is mastery of Guitar Mechanics. That is critical to utilizing all of this Music Theory, and harnassing it's power. |
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11-04-2005, 08:27 PM
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#19 | Registered User
Joined: May 2005 Location: New Orleans Posts: 578
| thats a lot of stuff to read Janacen. i think its easier to just listen for the right notes. i dont know any scales i just listen for the right notes and it works great, i can come up with good solos. |
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11-17-2005, 09:18 PM
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#20 | Dogbert's back!
Joined: Jul 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,313
| I'm jsut trying to give people kind of a structure to work with. Ther'es a lot of rules, yes, but it's a lot of fun to mix and match. Some of it's a litlte more necessary for making a solo fit the song, some of it's just for plain fun, but I'm hoping people find it all useful. But yes, you can just play notes that sound good and that should work; this all's just to help you get a good idea of how music works, how to take some underlying structures in it and make something good out of it. Guidelines aren't always necessary, but they sure are helpful. |
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11-19-2005, 06:58 AM
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#21 | Registered User
Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 5
| good question
i dont know if your a beginning guitarist or advanced
and the way it works best is for you to have sample progression
one you could relate too and fine tune the one you are working on
( bring it on see what up here )
im so certain there will be a mix reply to some of the best techniques out there
but one thing i can say for learning theory
if you stop you drop ! simple as that
and the CHORD/SCALES is a must when starting to learn rhythm and lead
how else could a blues player improvise on the spot instaintly
so ive been playing guitar for 20 + years but im a advanced player at a beginning level ( how come simple ) with all that theory
why waste it
i once read a reply from a man who stated
if you played one chord every second useing two or more notes
it would take nearly 11 thousand years to complete them all
thats why im haveing the time of my life all that can not be done in one's lifetime but i can jump up there and explore it
see ya Guardian Angel |
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04-01-2006, 02:46 PM
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#22 | Registered User
Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 211
| I think one of the biggest things is to learn your modes and tonalities. Once you do you can identify the mode and scale that the rythem instrument is playing. This makes soloing alot easier and allows you to concentrate on phrasing and dynamics. |
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05-20-2006, 08:27 PM
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#23 | Arnold Palmers FTW
Joined: Feb 2005 Location: Anderson, IN Posts: 4,451
| I cna't believe how long I have missed this thread. Lots of good information in here |
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06-19-2006, 10:37 PM
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#24 | Registered User
Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 81
| musicality.........obviously.. |
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08-09-2006, 11:09 AM
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#25 | Enginerd
Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,478
| One thing that I was told by my instructor:
"A good solo should be one that is easy to chorus back". In other words,
a good solo is one that I can play, and you can hum back to me when I'm done.
Now I understand that some of the "fun" stuff (like runs) might be hard to replicate, but I think in general, if you can play it and I can whistle it, then it'll be a decent solo.
Of course, one has to know what chords he/she is playing over (and all that other fun theory), but I'll leave the explaination of that to those who actually know what they are talking about (like Jenacen)!
God Bless
-guitarman531 |
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08-09-2006, 11:19 AM
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#26 | I'm on a horse.
Joined: Jun 2003 Location: Seattle, WA. Posts: 28,894
| Quote:
Originally Posted by guitarman531 Of course, one has to know what chords he/she is playing over (and all that other fun theory), but I'll leave the explaination of that to those who actually know what they are talking about (like Jenacen)! | In most rock songs, you really don't need to know, because the key almost never changes. Though the lessons in this thread are decent, they're not quite jazz improv lessons yet.
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08-09-2006, 01:03 PM
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#27 | Enginerd
Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,478
| Good point Rainer. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say "It can help in some situations to know what chords you're playing over"....
-guitarman531 |
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08-09-2006, 02:42 PM
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#28 | I'm on a horse.
Joined: Jun 2003 Location: Seattle, WA. Posts: 28,894
| Well, more along the lines of knowing the essentials of what chords are to know when there's a change in the key, either when reading or going by ear.
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08-12-2006, 05:29 PM
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#29 | Dogbert's back!
Joined: Jul 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,313
| I've heard some really great sounding solos that are slow and other equally great-sounding fast ones. It's really all up to the person listening. Some say speed is cheap, but it certainly is fun to watch and listen to (I'm sure it'd be fun to play but I'm not really that fast yet lol). And hey, some slow solos can bore you.
Well, chords just provide the overall harmonic structure of the song, but there's no rule saying you have to abide by them. What's really good to know is how to break the rules of music theory. I mean yeah, it's good to go with what are the accepted rules and guidelines of music theory (major and minor scales, chord steps revolving around intervals in thirds, etc.), but I think it's safe to say that all that is simply what sounds pleasant or normal to the given culture. Check out some of the exotic scales from other countries. Sounds rather different and unfamiliar, and I imagine that if you want to abide strictly to the rules behind those scales, you probably won't be able to form the same chords you hear in Western music generally.
Pitch axis theory, anyone? Fun stuff. Forces you to play by ear. And hey, if you want to make the chord structure and solo have two completely differnet keys, why not? As long as it sounds good, who cares? |
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08-12-2006, 06:25 PM
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#30 | I'm on a horse.
Joined: Jun 2003 Location: Seattle, WA. Posts: 28,894
| Quote:
And hey, if you want to make the chord structure and solo have two completely differnet keys, why not? As long as it sounds good, who cares?
| It's called the blues.
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